20210695 Ver 1_WRR_Agency Coordination Meeting #1_Information Packet_20201105

Wilmington Rail Realignment
11/12/20 Agency Coordination Meeting
Agency Coordination Meeting #1 Information Packet
Purpose of Meeting
The primary purpose of this meeting is to present project information and receive feedback from regulatory and
other agencies on the draft purpose and need statement, Project Study Area, preliminary Screening Report
findings, and other information for the proposed Wilmington Rail Realignment Project.
Proposed Action
The City of Wilmington, in coordination with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) (Project Team), is
undertaking a study to evaluate realigning an existing CSXT freight rail line primarily within the city limits. The
study, referred to as the Wilmington Rail Realignment (Project), proposes a route to reroute the existing freight
rail route between Navassa (Davis Yard) and the Port of Wilmington. The result would create a new freight rail
alignment that would improve freight rail operations, public mobility, and public safety, in the region.
Project Overview
Project History
CSXT serves major population centers in 23 states east of the Mississippi River, the District of Columbia and the
Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It has access to over 70 ocean, river and lake port terminals along
the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts,the Mississippi River, the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway.
The Beltline was originally constructed outside the developed limits of Wilmington, however over time the City
has expanded, increasing the number of at-grade crossings.
In November 2014,the City of Wilmington passed a resolution encouraging WMPO, NCDOT and CSXT to
complete a feasibility study to evaluate the relocation of the CSXT rail line to the west of the Cape Fear River to
eliminate these conflicts and provide a more direct route to the between the CSXT Davis Yard in Navassa and the
Port of Wilmington.
In 2017,the City of Wilmington completed the Wilmington Rail Realignment and Right of Way Use Alternatives
Feasibility Study(Feasibility Study) that investigated the feasibility of realigning the existing Beltline that traverses
in a "V" shape through the City.The study looked at three potential options for a new freight rail corridor west of
the Cape Fear River and shifting of the freight traffic to this new corridor. Moving this line would also offer the
potential of repurposing the existing CSXT railroad corridor for transit and/or bicycle/pedestrian use within the
City of Wilmington.
Also in 2017, the NCDOT Rail Division along with local government partners completed a traffic separation study
of 26 existing at-grade roadway-railroad crossings along a 6-mile span of the CSXT rail line in downtown
Wilmington. The Wilmington Traffic Separation Study evaluated short, medium, and long-term improvements to
at-grade rail crossings.
A related study in 2017, Landside Rail Improvements Service the Port and Moving Trains Safely Through the
Community evaluated the Port's forecasted demand and existing rail infrastructure, including track capacity and
condition of the CSXT beltline, as well as on Port property, and concluded that the existing rail
infrastructure would not sustain anticipated traffic volumes. The report further notes substantial cost savings for
shippers if freight is shifted from highway truck to intermodal rail for the Wilmington to Charlotte haul.
In 2018,the City of Wilmington prepared a grant application for the FRA's Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and
Safety Improvements (CRISI) program to fund preliminary engineering and NEPA studies for the Wilmington Rail
Realignment Project.The application was awarded up to $2M in federal funding.A benefit-cost analysis (BCA)

Wilmington Rail Realignment
11/12/20 Agency Coordination Meeting
prepared in support of the CRISI application evaluated the economic impacts of the following effects of
realigning the existing CSXT rail line:
• Effects on system and service performance, including freight train operating cost savings
• Effects on safety, competitiveness, reliability, trip or transit time, and resilience
• Expected crash cost savings by avoiding conflicts with trains
• Value of passenger time saved as a result of avoiding train delay
• Vehicle operating cost savings as a result of avoiding train delay
• Emissions saved as a result of avoiding train delay
• Value of improved fire truck response time
• Value of improved EMS response time
• Reliability benefit
• Train emissions savings
• Residual value
• Efficiencies from improved integration with other modes and expected benefits of a transit system in the
abandoned corridor
The BCA concluded that the economic net benefit of the project would be $546.7M to $1.562B (in 2017 dollars).
Project Study Area
The Project Study Area encompasses approximately a one-mile area centered on the existing CSXT rail line from
east of Navassa to the Port of Wilmington through downtown Wilmington along the proposed new location
corridors west of the Cape Fear River (Figure 1).
FRA NEPA Process
The environmental review phase of the Project will occur in two phases, Pre-NEPA and NEPA. Pre-NEPA planning
phase will include the following:
• Define a Project Study Area
• Identify a planning horizon year
• Develop a draft Purpose and Need
• Develop a preliminary range of reasonable alternatives
• Review the existing and future freight rail traffic volumes, and existing environmental conditions
• Engage the public and environmental and regulatory resource agencies in the Pre-NEPA planning activities
The Pre-NEPA phase will inform the initiation of the NEPA studies for the Project and include the following
deliverables:
• Purpose and Need Report
• Public Involvement Plan
• Alternatives Screening Report
• Alternatives Analysis Report
The NEPA phase will begin with the identification of a Locally Preferred Alternative to be carried forward in the
Environmental Assessment.
Proposed Agency Input Milestones
A Public Involvement Plan (PIP) has been developed to serve as a guide under applicable federal and state
regulations for conducting and documenting public and agency coordination efforts in support of the Project.
The objective is to involve agencies as early and as often in the decision-making process as issues or situations
occur that may affect them.
Project milestones and their accompanying agency participation objectives are noted below:

Wilmington Rail Realignment
11/12/20 Agency Coordination Meeting
• Determine Preliminary Class of Action (COA): One of the initial steps in coordinating with agency
partners will be to coordinate with the Federal Rail Administration to determine the COA for the project. The
preliminary COA is an Environmental Assessment. At this time, this will not be undertaken as a 404 Merger
Process.
• Project Initiation and Development of Purpose and Need Statement: Solicit feedback and concerns
from federal, state, and local agencies and other agency partners on the project study area, preliminary
purpose and need, and feasibility of conceptual alignments, and issue a start of study email to all agency
stakeholders identified. The Project Team has drafted a preliminary Purpose and Need for consideration.
• Identification of Range of Reasonable Alternatives and Screening Criteria: Solicit feedback from
agency representatives on alternatives developed and the methodology for screening and refining alternative
corridors. Solicit feedback from agencies on recommended screening criteria for evaluation/comparison of
alternatives. The Project Team has identified corridors to evaluate through a screening process.
• Refinement and Analysis of Alternatives:Solicit agency feedback to refine conceptual ideas of the
preliminary range of reasonable alternatives. After the Screening Report is complete, the Project Team will
refine corridors to consider environmental effects and engineering considerations.
• Identification of Locally Preferred Alternative: Solicit agency and public feedback and evaluate
preliminary alternative impacts to select a Locally Preferred Alternative.At the end of the Alternatives Analysis,
the Project Team will select a Locally Preferred Alternative to be further evaluated in the NEPA phase.
• Environmental Document: Solicit comments on the consistency of the environmental document with the
public participation record to date and determine issues that should be investigated. The Project Team is
working with FRA in the Pre-NEPA planning process; the NEPA phase commences upon completion of the
Alternatives Analysis phase (estimated to start in Spring of 2021).
• Mitigation Development: Develop measures to mitigate substantial adverse effects in a manner
preferred by the affected public and accepted by the jurisdictional local, state, and federal agencies. As
planning progresses for the Project, mitigation will be considered and developed to offset unavoidable impacts
in coordination with agencies.
Purpose and Need Discussion
The primary purpose of the Wilmington Rail Realignment Project is to improve safety and regional transportation
mobility, while also improving the resiliency, reliability, and operational fluidity of the sole freight rail route
connecting southeastern North Carolina with the Port of Wilmington.
The Project is expected to result in the following direct benefits:
• Improved operational fluidity:The Project would allow for the growth in CSX freight trains both in
quantity and in length. The more direct route for CSXT between the Port of Wilmington and Davis Yard
would result in time savings for freight trains and increased throughput capacity for rail freight.
• Improved reliability: Reliability of travel downtown would improve as conflicts and delays in downtown
Wilmington are reduced.Additionally, CSXT would have a shorter, newer route requiring less short-term
maintenance than current track and considerably less at-grade crossings to maintain.
• Improved resiliency:The Project would improve and, in some areas, raise existing railway above the
floodplain and other areas susceptible to flooding.

Wilmington Rail Realignment
11/12/20 Agency Coordination Meeting
• Improved safety:The Project would considerably reduce the number of crossing conflicts between
vehicles and freight trains on the Beltline through Wilmington. In addition, fire and emergency response
time would improve in the study area when freight trains are not blocking at-grade crossings, thereby
saving lives and property.
• Improved regional transportation mobility: The Project would reduce congestion caused by vehicles
delayed by freight rail traffic. In addition, as more containers are converted to freight rail,the number of
container trucks traveling through the City would decrease.
Alternatives Screening Report Discussion
Report Methodology/Approach
The Screening Report analyzes the corridor routes studied in the 2017 Feasibility Study as well as identifies new
or modified corridors developed based on the draft Purpose and Need.The results will be a set of options
carried forward for more detailed study in the Alternatives Analysis.
The screening for the Project was conducted in two phases, Step One: Initial Screening and Step Two: Secondary
Screening. During Step One,the project team qualitatively reviewed the corridors recommended from the
Feasibility Study against a set of criteria to determine which corridors should advance for more detailed
evaluation as part of the Screening Process. It also identified possible modifications for those corridors that
advance. Step Two provided an additional level of screening by dividing the remaining corridors into Sections
and Options and identifying where corridors can be modified. Dividing corridors into Sections, with options for
each section, will allow for a more detailed analysis and flexibility to refine the alignment and reduce impacts.
The result of Step Two identified a set of options for each section to be carried forward for more detailed analysis
as part of the Alternatives Analysis.
Step One:Initial Screening
The 2017 Feasibility Study recommended three corridors, as described below and shown in Figure 2:
• Corridor A—The corridor furthest West.
• Corridor B—Central corridor that uses most of the former railway embankment.
• Corridor C—This corridor closely follows the US17/74 highway corridor.
Additionally, a No-Build corridor is recommended for consideration.The No-Build corridor does not include any
improvements to the existing Wilmington Beltline as part of this project but will include all other fiscally
constrained transportation projects within the Project Study Area.
The initial screening criteria include the following:
• Ability to Meet Purpose and Need of Project
• Consistency with Planned Transportation Projects
• Operational Considerations
• Historic Property Considerations
Step Two:Secondary Screening
The purpose of this step is to review the corridors that advanced from the Initial Screening in Step 1 (Corridors A
and B and No-Build Corridor) and modify them where necessary.An Upgrade Existing Corridor was added for
consideration.
The Upgrade Existing Corridor would follow the same alignment as the No-Build Corridor from Davis Yard to the
Port of Wilmington.The difference is that the existing alignment and its features would be upgraded to the
extent practicable to meet the stated Purpose and Need for the project by including the conversion of at-grade
crossings to grade separated crossings,which would address automobile traffic congestion and remove/reduce
safety conflicts.

Wilmington Rail Realignment
11/12/20 Agency Coordination Meeting
After the Initial Screening, the new location corridors were divided further into three Sections from south to
north in order to better understand the range of possibilities for each corridor. Section I includes Options in
Wilmington along Front Street that tie to the Port facilities. Section II includes Options that cross the Cape Fear
River and traverse Eagles Island south of the existing US 17/74/421 interchange. Section III includes Options after
crossing US 17/74/421 that continue north to the existing railyard.The corridors under consideration in Step Two
are shown on Figure 3.
Secondary screening criteria include engineering considerations, various human, socioeconomic, cultural,
physical, and natural environmental metrics.At this stage in the development of corridors, impacts are only to be
used for comparison purposes. Impacts were calculated using a 200-foot centered buffer. Design refinements will
be made during the Alternatives Analysis phase to further avoid and minimize impacts to resources.
Project Next Steps
The next phase of alternatives refinement and evaluation will be to prepare an Alternatives Analysis Report.
Sections and Options identified in the Secondary Screening of this report will be used to form contiguous end-
to-end corridors, within which preliminary designs will be developed. Preliminary designs will then be evaluated
using refined criteria, input from the public, and input from regulatory and resource agencies. This evaluation
will be an iterative process that will ultimately result in the identification of a Locally Preferred Alternative to be
evaluated in detail in the NEPA document.
Public Meeting
A Virtual Public Meeting is scheduled to take place November 16th through December 15`h 20th.The purpose of
the meeting will be to present the project to the public and receive feedback on the Purpose and Need and
project data used in the Screening Report. Comments will be accepted through the duration of the public
meeting.

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